Chemo?

What is Chemotherapy?

Chemotherapy is at the center of the cancer wars. According the the National Cancer Institute, chemotherapy is “treatment that uses drugs to stop the growth of cancer cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Chemotherapy may be given by mouth, injection, or infusion, or on the skin, depending on the type and stage of the cancer being treated. It may be given alone or with other treatments, such as surgery, radiation therapy, or biologic therapy.”

The website, cancer.net provides information on some of the basics for understanding chemotherapy, such as different types, methods for delivery, and side effects. The National Cancer Institute also provides a support guide, for helping people manage chemotherapy.

Is Chemotherapy Effective?

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has a list of approved chemotherapy drugs listed by year of approval. They provide a useful infographic that explains the drug approval process. So it is in Phase 2 that the effectiveness of the drug is evaluated.

There are skeptics who alert us to question chemotherapy. Ty Bollinger of “The Truth About Cancer” series cautions cancer patients and provides a list of 12 Questions to ask before saying yes to chemo.

With such contradictions, we are left to wonder where the truth lies….could it be true that our federal government is benefiting from the cancer industrial complex? Is Big Pharma making a killing, so to speak? Clearly, I have some more research to do.